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Memories of the Shadow by Orell Mikin
"Please, my love, please.... I want to introduce the lovely trees to him and let him smell the lovely scent of ferns and flowers before our baby comes to this world... So that he would love the forest as we do.... Please, my heart, you can bring any number of guards you deem fit. Surely it will be enough to keep us safe." Wordlessly, I nod to her pleading face, and her face breaks out into a lovely smile. How am I to refuse her? She has suffered so long to bring our baby to term... almost to term already, and surely I can grant her such a request. My heart blooms in joy as I see her smile. Whoever said that women are the fattest and ugliest in pregnancy have to be blind or crazy. Yes, she might ask for the strangest of food at the wierdest of times, but now her face glows with a radiance and joy that I have never before seen and the most beautiful I have seen. Astride Timdor, the pair of us rides out to the Mikin Wood, with a retinue of nearly a hundred guards. Members of my personal division of the Ducal Guard and the entire Mikin Forest Guard. The Forest Guards are made up of our closest friends, the forest has always been the love of my youth and I share it unjealously with my precious wife, who loves it with a queer passion of her own. The bright sunlight shines upon us as we leave the West Bluff Keep and comes towards Light's Reach, blessing us with joy and happiness. At the moment, it seems like even the world is celebrating the impending arrival of my child. Surely the guards are enough to protect us. My rapier and my training will be enough to protect my wife and our baby. ---- Orell turned on his bed uneasily and agitated, his forehead soaked with sweat. ---- Stepping into the forest, Raine and I walk towards each of the trees that we have named during the time we have spent here in our youth and introduce them one by one to our yet-unborn baby. Our hearts are filled with joy, so much that we do not even notice the sun suddenly being overshadowed by the dark clouds. In the dark woods, gradually, even the small rays of sunlight coming under the crown of the tall trees disappear. A heavy rain starts to fall and even through the thick cover of the leaves, we are speedily soaked. Strange sounds start emerging from the surrounding dark forests. The howls of wolves and screeching of hyenas seem to be closing in on us. Pit darkness reigns around us as the oil lanterns that are brought are assaulted in turn by sheets of rain and powerful gusts of wind. The guards can scarcely protect us when they can hardly see what is approaching. My palm is lined with sweat as I fear the worst, as the first recognition dawns upon me that we are under attack. ---- Orell started kicking as he tossed and turned on his bed, his head shaking as if to stop his dream from approaching its inevitable end, as they had done a countless number of times. ---- "To the pavilion in the clearing!" I shout in the wind towards the guards around us, "To the pavillion!" Happy moments spent so many times in the pavilion flash past my mind as I rein in Timdor to head towards the south. Raine seated behind me hugs me around my waist tighter than before as she pulls up her hood to hide her head from the rain. I draw my rapier, infused by a huge sense of purpose. To protect my dear wife and unborn baby. Horses neighed and sounds of foot running along to catch up drifts from everywhere as we swiftly head for the clearing. In but five minutes, we reach the clearing and I carry my wife into the pavilion. She sits down at the table at the centre of the pavilion and send in Haldor. "Chief Haldor, you and the forest guards stay here no matter what, and protect my wife and my child." Haldor makes a sound as if to protest but I shake my head firmly and he wisely hold his protest. Outside, the guards have arrayed themselves to deal with an attack on the pavilion and the shrill howls of the wolves seem to come from everywhere. Beyond the clearing, we can hardly see anything within the forest. All is dark. Shouting a cry of "The Shadow!", a group of masked men with a variety of weapons charges up towards the pavilion. I assume command of my personal guards and lead a counter-attack on the masked group. The little skirmish is going well, the masked group gradually falls back and my guards are gaining ground. In the midst of the fight, I turn back to check on the pavilion. To my horror, all the forest guards are lying on the floor and Raine is being carried off, screaming wordlessly for me on a black stallion galloping off in the opposite direction. I scream, "Rally to me!!!!!" and kick back hard on Timdor's belly. Timdor boots off immediately under my direction, and my guards break off their engagement to run hard behind my mount. I chase after the black stallion, my blood boiling in my ears. Suddenly, with a blink of my eye, the horse before me seems to have disappeared out of sight. I shake my head hard and start to look for the mount's track. To my horror, there is no other tracks on the ground but Timdor's! My men fall in behind me and shake their head wordlessly when I ask them if they have seen the black stallion riding off. My sweat feels chilly on my forehead and I pull back on the reins to head back to the clearing. Just then Timdor collapses forward on his legs, his eyes closed in exhaustion and his breath stopped. I start running back towards the pavilion with a strange uncomfortable silence around me. My men are silent, as if they expect the worst. Even the forest has turned silent, the howls of wolves quietened. The light from the sun returns from the shroud of the dark clouds, the light without warmth. The rain has diminished to a light drizzle. The sight that greets me grips my throat with regret and pain. The entire forest guard dead or dying: I have left them there to die to pursue an illusion! Then, I see Raine. Lying just an inch from my dear friend Haldor, who lay in a pool of his own blood still pouring from a wound on his chest made by a claw, was Raine. Barely alive, she reaches out her pale arm towards me, trying her hardest to smile at me, her breath coming in gasps, "Orell, my love...." ---- "No...." Orell screamed as he woke up. So many times, this dream had haunted him. So many times.... His bed drenched in his sweat, his eyes filled with his tears. ---- Category:Chiaroscuro Stories